Amtrak `Part Of America`

Absurd Idea?

DOWNERS GROVE — ``Pork barrel`` is probably a more fitting term for the logic your editorial staff used in its decision on your Amtrak editorial.

Your combining of routes is absurd when you take into consideration that over 80 percent of the ridership on long-distance routes comes from intermediate towns.

The Western restructuring totally ignored Albuquerque, Grand Canyon

(Flagstaff), Omaha, St. Paul-Minnesota, Glacier National Park and many other places that may seem small by Chicago Tribune or O`Hare International Airport standards but produce very good, growing ridership for Amtrak.